This invention relates generally to fluid propulsion apparatus and, more particularly, to a fluid propulsion apparatus which may be used as a pump or a turbine and wherein the internal parts are rotated in either a clockwise or a counter-clockwise direction.
The principle of a rotating disc, pump or turbine is, of course, old and well-known. The uses of such a device as a pump, to convert mechanical energy into fluid flow and thus pressure, or as a turbine to convert fluid flow into mechanical energy, are well-accepted in the art.
Throughout the years, there have been many improvements made with respect to fluid propulsion apparatus. However, none of the fluid propulsion apparatus of which I am aware has recognized the mechanical interface problems with respect to the environment in which the pump or turbine is to be used.
To understand this problem, consider first the situation where the fluid propulsion apparatus is being utilized as a turbine. Typically, the apparatus has a port at the periphery positioned in such a way that the discs will rotate in only one direction, either clockwise or counter-clockwise. Such rotation, of course, means that the discs and shaft will only rotate in one direction. If the shaft of the turbine rotates only in the clockwise direction, but if the apparatus to which the turbine is connected requires a counter-clockwise rotation, then it is necessary to provide an auxiliary mechanical gearing to convert the turbine output from clockwise rotation to counter-clockwise rotation.
A similar problem arises, of course, when the fluid propulsion apparatus is utilized as a pump and the shaft is mechanically rotated. Since the device which rotates the shaft is usually capable of rotation in either the clockwise or the counter-clockwise direction, if the pump itself is constructed so as to rotate in only one direction, then an auxiliary mechanical gearing element is again necessary.
Heretofore, the prior art developments in the pump and turbine art have not addressed themselves to the problem above described. Hence the present invention overcomes the problems of the prior art by providing a fluid propulsion apparatus which is operable as either a pump or a turbine and is operable in both the clockwise and the counter-clockwise directions.